ICT: the Roles and Influence on the Reforms within the Public Sector Background: 1960s: Centralized planning through National Economic and Social Development Board s: Complexity in dealing with large-scale programs for economic developments 1997 Economic crisis and the public-sector reforms 2000s: Reforms calling for good governance 2010: International studies showing negative impacts of the public sector on the country’s competitiveness- Global Competitiveness Report, Ease of Doing Business Survey, and Corruption Perception Index, etc. Present: Transformation of the public sector to Government 2.0 with ongoing research areas 1

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3 Lack of effective ICT applications is often cited as a contributor to a failure of a large-scale public projects- poor coordination and communication, abuse of power and lack of monitoring, and public protest

4 World Bank/ IMF: 1.Reforms in the public sector Passing the Good Governance Decree of 2003 Strict ICT and monetary monitoring of state enterprises 2.Reforms in the country’s financial sector

5 Office of the Public Sector Development Commission under Office of the Prime Minister together with various ministerial agencies: use of ICT for service quality (as part of effectiveness/ efficiency and responsiveness)

6 ICT in the Public Sector in 2000s: E-Government: Service quality and innovation through service process reengineering e-Revenue e-Passport One-stop Service or Service Link

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s: “Corruption” has been consistently cited as the most problematic factor for doing business.

14 The Land office is the most corrupt agency in the Thai bureaucracy, while police are ranked second in this dubious list where households needed to make illegal payments to facilitate their service, according to an academic survey. The survey titled "Corruption in the Thai Bureaucracy in 2014: A Survey of Attitudes and Experiences of Heads of Households" by Chulalongkorn University found that 7.2 per cent of 6,048 heads of Thai households said they were asked for a bribe by officials at land offices whenever contacted for a service, while 6.1 per cent said police personnel asked for money from them.

15 Present: Transforming the Public Sector

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Trends in the development of the public sector towards Government Open data– making data accessible to drive innovation, collaboration and economic opportunities, while also fostering transparency and accountability. 2.Enhancing and extending services through innovation– virtual communities of interest have positive social outcomes, facilitate communication and mitigate risk across large segments of population. 3.gBay for public services and assets – different actors offer services and products online allowing individual choice from a hybrid public/private mix. 4.Bootstrapping the virtual bureaucracy – expand talent pool of the public service by engaging online communities from other sectors of society. 5.The citizen regulator – social media could allow citizen participation in regulatory enforcement. 6.The citizen legislator – establishing a method for outreach and inclusion may enable civic engagement and civic competency. 17

18 Gradual Decline in Public Trust in Thailand: Emerging Importance of ICT during Current Transformation 1.Increasing the level of perceived corruption  reforming public procurement 2.People Sector or 3 rd Sector  Lack of the public sector’s capability in tackling large-scale social problems  Need for check-and-balance with the public sector and external political influence  Need to re-engage with the citizens- young generations

19 Roles of ICT on Public Procurement Price collusion Conflict of interest Market analysis e-Auction and e-Market Strengthening integrity risk management Publishing procurement reports Providing the visibility for public monitoring and watchdog (highlighting “Open Government”)

20 Importance of Public Procurement  Representing 10-20% of GDP;  Representing 30-40% of the national budgets;  A strategic tool to realize a broad spectrum of national priorities and goals, such as Economic goals (mass transit, etc.) Environmental goals (green procurement, etc.) Social goals (schools, hospitals, etc.)  An important factor in international trade and market access (Europe’s Government Procurement Agreement) Public Procurement Integrity Risk

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22 Key Issues: 1.“Complex” problems cannot be solved by a single governmental agency 2.Creating “Networked” or “collaborative” government- thru the use of ICT is an emerging practice with the 3 rd sector (such as Thai Health Promotion Foundation) 3.Pressure for the public sector to reform and transform, especially monitoring and “public watchdog”

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25 Ongoing Research Areas: ICT Applications within the Context of the Public Sector: 1.Handling social mobilization, through social media and younger generations- providing a balance to public decisions made in response to the political influence from international/ domestic business interests. 2.Analysis on the correlation between improved international ranking and spending on ICT investment- “Ease of Doing Business Survey”, “e-Government Readiness”, “Corruption Perception Index”, “Global Competitiveness Report”, etc. 3.Creating active citizens as, in Thailand, the term democracy should imply participation (than simply holding an election) 4.Impacts of ICT investment on service quality and innovation in the public sector- “Service Level Agreement”, “Big Data”, public procurement, etc. 5.Integrating ICT into “New Public Sector Management”

Kasetsart University is a public university and a top-ranked Public University in Thailand. It was also the first agricultural university and the third oldest university in Thailand. The university was established on February 2, 1943, with the primary aims in promoting subjects related to agricultural science. HRH Princess Chulabhorn graduated from Kasetsart University (Faculty of Science). Kasetsart University has four campuses throughout Thailand, where its main and flagship campus is at Bang Khen, Bangkok. Its Faculty of Engineering is the largest in the country and is regarded as the top two in the country. 26